An ordeal that began Jan. 23 has come closer to an end for three sisters who wanted to have a part of their brother with them.

Jennifer Buhite mailed a package Jan. 21 by certified mail from Pittsburgh to her sisters Melissa Beauregard and Allison Bianco of Torrington. The package was meant to bring the sisters some comfort to help ease the loss of their brother, Roger Barton Jr. who passed away in November. The package contained two pendants with some of their brother’s ashes along with other mementos of Barton for the nieces and nephews.

That package never made it and what followed was a seven-week ordeal with almost daily contact between Buhite and the post office.

Buhite said the pendants were packaged in individual boxes which were then placed in a fabric bag which was then packaged in an Amazon box that was about 24 inches by 12 inches in size, along with other mementos.

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When the package didn’t arrive Jan. 23, Buhite contacted her local post office and was told that the package was lost in Springfield, Mass., where it had been last checked in.

“I was given many scenarios about what could have happened,” said Buhite. “One person said they believed the box got stuck to another box when it was going down a conveyor belt in the Springfield shipping center. That person said maybe the top of the box got ripped off.”

She was told that when a jam occurs, the contents of the package is shipped to an office in Atlanta. Both pendants ended up being located in Atlanta weeks apart.

During this process, Buhite was told that there was a procedure to follow when mailing human remains, including special labeling, packaging, and chain of possession forms. She said that when she received the first pendant back it was shipped in a regular box, no special label, with no signature required.

“Throughout the whole process I was told different things by each person I talked to. When they found the first pendant I was told it would be sent to me the same day. Then a few hours later I received a email from Deborah Fuller [the Postmaster General’s Secretary] saying that I wouldn’t receive it until Monday. The next day I get a call from my daughter saying that the pendant was delivered by the postman with the regular mail,” said Buhite.

Buhite said that despite her constant contact with the post office, little happened until the media began reporting her story. She ended up going up the chain of command until she reached the Postmaster General.

As a result of Buhite’s persistence, she said she was told there will be rule changes at the post office so that this doesn’t happen again.

The sisters are relieved that the pendants were located but are still hoping to recover the other lost items.

“I am very happy that I have [the pendants] in my possession. In hindsight, I wish I would have never sent them through the USPS system, but at the time I was thinking with my heart and not my head,” Buhite said.

“I think the post office reacted poorly. They didn’t seem to want to help, until the media became involved,” said Beauregard. “I am not blaming every postal worker. I am more disappointed with management.”